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BOBBY FRANKEL REMEMBERED NOVEMBER 16, 2009 "We at Juddmonte today mourn the loss of our friend and great trainer, Bobby Frankel. The term great may be used loosely in modern society, but his record and accomplishments are humbling to even the most highly esteemed leaders of our sport. To use a racetrack phrase, Bobby went to the front and was never headed. He could never, ever have been termed a follower, but good people followed him and we were privileged to be in in their midst. We will retain great memories of him, of great horses he trained for us and of great races he won for us. "And we will always remember him for what he was: a great trainer." —Juddmonte Farms release "Bobby was a great guy. He did a lot of things behind the scenes that people don't know. He was very generous, very good to his help. He was great to ride for. He never told you how to ride. He had confidence in you. When he gave you a leg up, he felt you should know your business. He was a great handicapper. He knew where to put his horses. He wasn't a good people person when he was plying his trade. If you didn't know him, he could be a jerk. You had to know him off the track. He was very gracious, but he wouldn't let everybody know that. On the track he was tough. He wanted to achieve his goals." —Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Delahoussaye "He proved you don't have to grow up on a farm or be somebody's kid to make it. Trainers come and go, but here's a guy who won at the highest level decade after decade. And as a horseman. a trainer, and a human being, he was so caring about horses, and his help. There's never going to be another Bobby Frankel." —trainer Chad Brown, who worked for Frankel for two years in California "This man was unbelievable, He had a heart as big as they get. A good man. Very good to his help. No one left. We were very good friends. He changed the game when he came (to Southern California) from New York. He'd claim a horse for $20,000 and run him for $8,000. He had everyone confused. They didn't know what he was doing." —trainer Julio Canani, who introduced Frankel at his Hall of Fame induction in 1995 "This is very bad news for racing. He is one of the greatest. I put him up there with Charlie Whittingham. He showed it with claimers and stakes horses. I appreciate everything he did for me. He put me on special horses. We won a lot of races together." —Hall of Fame jockey Laffit Pincay Jr., who guided the Frankel-trained Aptitude to victory in the 2001 Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) "He was a tremendous horseman, his horses always looked well, and he was a great caretaker. In some ways, he developed the trend of giving horses more time between races. He was very passionate about horses and passionate about racing." —trainer Todd Pletcher "He was an excellent horseman with an impeccable record. He was great to his horses and great to his help. He went from the bottom rung of racing all the way to the top, which is a mark not only of him as a horseman, but as a person. He will be sadly missed." —Hall of Fame conditioner Shug McGaughey "He was a great horseman and was unique in his training. He trained his horses one morning at a time and he wasn't afraid to change things midstream, the same morning even, and it worked. His horses looked wonderful on the racetrack. They were nice horses to start, of course, but they sure always looked the part. I always kept an eye on what he did." —trainer Al Stall Jr., who was stabled near Frankel at Saratoga "He was really sharp and sometimes he'd let you believe that he wasn't paying attention, but he always knew what you were doing. He was generous with people that needed help. He could be gruff, but he had a soft side, too." —Pam Fitzgerald, an assistant to Stall, who worked for Frankel in the mid-1990s "Bobby was a great horseman and a fierce competitor. His passion for Thoroughbred racing will be sorely missed." —P.J. Campo, Vice President and Director of Racing for the New York Racing Association (NYRA) "Bobby Frankel was a winner at every level he competed, including in the Breeders' Cup, where his six career wins are part of his wonderful legacy as one of the true greats of our game. We extend our deepest sympathies to Bobby's family and his many friends." —Greg Avioli, Breeders' Cup President and CEO
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